EU just decided that gass and nuclear is to be concidered green. I get why nuclear is alright, but since both coal and gass is basically just carbon in different states. Why then is gass better?
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The decision have been criticized [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-06/eu-slammed-over-gas-vote-as-bankers-warn-of-new-greenwash-risks](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-06/eu-slammed-over-gas-vote-as-bankers-warn-of-new-greenwash-risks)
It is a political decision that many disagree with [https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/06/eu-parliament-nuclear-gas-green/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/07/06/eu-parliament-nuclear-gas-green/)
Is has to be said gas is better the coal. The CO2 emission is around half compared to coal for the same amount of electric energy. The exact difference depends on what coal you are talking about and the exact design of the plants. Natural gas use gas turbines which are a more efficient way to extract energy than to go via steam. You can’t run a gas turbine on coal.
[https://www.volker-quaschning.de/datserv/CO2-spez/index_e.php](https://www.volker-quaschning.de/datserv/CO2-spez/index_e.php)
That is just carbon dioxide. Coal is not just carbon it is primary carbon but you find other elements in it like sulfur. It will result in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_rain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_rain) . Coal contains a lot more sulfur than natural gas we talk about 100x to several thousand times more compared to the heat that is generated.
Coal alos results in more large particulate the natural gas
[https://blueflame.org/natural-gas-the-choice-for-a-cleaner-environment/](https://blueflame.org/natural-gas-the-choice-for-a-cleaner-environment/)
So natural gas is better the coal. If you can replace coal power plants with natural gas power planes their result is an improvement. But better does not mean good.
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